It is a quiet day in mostly reconstructed Cerealia. The robots are busily running into walls that were not there before, the Cybuddy bees are buzzing...and CERES has still not said a word. Attempting to contact them still gets the User Offline error. Strange...
But who cares if CERES is offline? After all, they are the cruel and tyrannical captors. A Cerealia without them must be better than a Cerealia with them. So there's nothing to worry about on this fine, peaceful day. Or, at least, that's what it seems like, when suddenly there's a voice in everyone's head. A chosen few may recognize the voice, for they will have heard it before, but to the vast majority, it is brand new.
Looks like someone has been saved, and a reward granted... and no, you don't have a single choice in the matter.
 Your heroism will be remembered, lost and stolen souls.
You have saved me, and so now, I shall save you.
All of you.
|
PHASE I [ day one ] It happens so quickly. One moment you’re in the colony, going about your daily life, and the next, you’re… floating. A moment later, every player character from the colony is transported with a wisp of fresh air to...somewhere very very different. The distance is far, but it is covered in what must have only been a scant moment, and it’s clear somehow, especially to air characters, that it was Caeli’s doing that brought everyone there.
There, naturally, being right in the middle of the jungle.
Everyone is then unceremoniously dropped. You may land on a tree, or in a patch of poison mushrooms (no really, look out for the colorful plant life, it’s probably poisonous) or in the river. There are some strange insects of all sorts and types, some of which have some uncomfortable side effects if you’re bitten, such as swelling or the uncomfortable urge to go hug the nearest person, and there are strange flowers everywhere, some of which glow only in the dark of night or the shade of trees. It is dreadfully humid, however, and a little hard to breathe--unless you’re of the air disposition.
Either way, you’ve certainly landed somewhere fantastical, so take some time to get used to your surroundings. It shouldn’t take too long to find everyone else, hopefully.
PHASE II [ day two ] Of course, this far into the jungle, and making this much noise, it was only inevitable before some company was attracted.
Some are clearly dangerous, some are peaceful as can be and some are somewhere in between; approach at your own risk.
Either way, these monsters are all drawn to larger groups of people and a lot of noise, so it may be best to keep quiet...though the ones that keep their distance may be even more concerning.
Everyone is certainly being stalked at one point or another in the jungle -- and at night, there are eyes watching from the darker parts of the trees.
PHASE III [ day three ] But perhaps if you follow some of those monsters deeper into the woods, you will stumble across an old, run down village of sorts. It looks as though time and the jungle has overtaken it. Exploring it will reveal plenty of homes that were clearly lived in however, by families and by people of all sorts.
There are empty rooms, covered in dust, and a central village fire, long gone out.
Small knick-knacks and various objects can be found… if you want to steal from the dead, you know. It’s a little rude. It appears they led a simple, peaceful life, however; most notably, there is no technology to be found.
And if The Bridge catches you doing it, she will look incredibly sad and ask you to put everything back in its proper place before she goes back to looking very irritated at Caeli. You may overhear words about how this “isn’t the right place” and Caeli’s unrepentant, “It is only a few hundred miles”. Looks like something went a little wrong in the transportation process.
Time to camp out for the night, perhaps. And your CereVices don’t get any reception out here, so no surfing the internet for you. If you try to connect to the internet, for some reason the device starts playing a song. Was that programmed…?
PHASE IV [ day four ] By the fourth day, it’s pretty clear that you’re going to be stuck here for a bit. Pestering Caeli or Maris gets nothing, while the Bridge still can’t be approached for pretty good reasons. So… you’ll just have to make the best of it while they figure out their next approach.
Time to figure out how to camp with few supplies and even fewer nice places to sleep. Maybe try to make a fire (though it’s incredibly difficult, considering how muggy it is here) or try to find some bugs to eat (ew gross).
Of course, you can try hunting, but the prey doesn’t look too friendly, so be careful not to become the prey yourself. The same goes for fishing, it seems.
Some of the trees are poisonous, some of the grasses will cause unfortunate rashes, and some vines will lash out to grab at people (especially colorful ones); basically, this is an entirely untamed alien jungle, so it may not be the fun camping trip you'd like.
Time to work together to survive out here, at least for a little longer.
It’s your time to shine. This is Person Versus Wild.
PHASE V [ day six ] On day six, the jungle goes utterly silent.
The monsters and animals disappear. The extra friends poof away hastily and suddenly. Maris and the Bridge fall silent (though Caeli admittedly continues floating there as ever). If anyone approaches them to ask, they'll just say that "she is coming".
And soon, she does appear. She moves slowly, lacking in feet; they are roots, as though that of a tree. Nonetheless, she has no troubles with moving forward, slow bit by bit. She does not speak, not at first, and behind her, trotting lightly through the woods, there is another. Both feel strongly of spiritual energy, just like Maris and Caeli. And eventually, after observing the people gathered, they can be spoken to.
BONUS [ day ??? ] After spending some time in the jungle, emotions might be running a bit amuck. And those emotions might bring some unexpected...friends. Yes, let's go with friends.
Because if a character is typically grumpy, gloomy, stoic, lineface, or anything along those lines, they may find themselves followed by a bright, happy bird. That bird feeds off of those emotions, and will just cheerfully follow around any lineface character for as long as possible. Or until they smile. The birds are otherwise harmless, chirping happily every now and then and following them around like a friendly shadow.
Happy, cheerful, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, energetic characters, on the other hand, will soon find themselves followed by... a different friend. Or maybe a handful of them. It depends on how cheerful they are. Either way, these creatures feed off of happiness and fun, but they will also chew on hair or an ear if they're allowed to get that close, making horrifying, chittering noises as they follow anyone who is in a good mood.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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no subject
[If only some people knew he was the top of his class at school...]
Food, I guess. Some cases I took on at home weren't boring, either.
[His friends weren't boring, but he's not going to mention that because it would almost actually sound like he's talking about his feelings. Which he's not going to do.]
no subject
Leon's thrown off by the question, and makes a flat face in response instead of immediately giving an actual response. What the hell kind of question is that? His least favorite kind--the kind where he takes the answer so much for granted as common knowledge that he doesn't actually know what it is. Come on! You're supposed to just know that! He can't explain what "a life" is any more than he can explain how to throw a pitch.
Nice's probably just screwing him around again, anyway.]
Is that a trick question or what? I'm not fallin' for that!
[Hehehe flawless non-answer. Nailed it.]
What cases? You a detective or somethin'?
no subject
Oh well.]
Kind of.
[He really is wondering what this "life" is people always tell him to get anyway, BUT. they're moving on.]
I was a private investigator at home with my partner Murasaki. Detective implies you were working with the police, and I wasn't necessarily doing that.
[Not all the time, anyway.]
no subject
[He doesn't know shit about detectives or private investigators; his knowledge begins and ends with Kirigiri and it's mostly about how damn fine she is. Detectives working with the police is new information for him, and he has a moment of wondering what the hell the police even do if detectives are already working with them to solve crimes. The gun stuff, maybe?
What Nice's implying he does is a lot more in line with Leon's preexisting ideas of what a detective is, but it's hard to reconcile that image with . . . this guy.]
People seriously hired you? I hope you let your partner do all the talking.
no subject
Leon's rude as hell, still.]
Of course they hired me! And I did as much talking as Murasaki did, and we still got a good amount of jobs!
[That's. Kind of not true, man. But you can live in your own little world because there's no one here to correct you.]
no subject
[Like he's one to talk. But he doesn't really see the point in pulling punches here; obviously Nice knows he's a jerk and doesn't care, so why not just say it? Repeatedly. He probably takes pride in it.]
So are you, like, a genius detective?
[What other explanation could there be for people putting up with him? Even though the idea of this guy being a genius is kind of hard to swallow. But it's not like Leon's not familiar with weirdos who have one skill they're really good at . . . ]
no subject
[It's still not really a great flow of customers, though, but he doesn't really think that has anything to do with how he acts.]
Something like that.
[he has cool powers too, but he's not really wanting to get into that subject right now.]
no subject
I guess that'd explain it. When you're good enough you can do whatever, right? I bet you ain't as good as Kirigiri, though! She'd take you down!
[What would a detective battle even entail? Sounds pretty nerdy, and potentially hilarious.]
So d'you still do that kinda thing here or what? Or did they hand you some kinda dumbass joke like they do to everyone else?
[By everyone else he means himself. He's never asked his friends what CERES offered them . . . ]
no subject
Yeah? It's been kind of boring -- competition might be fun when we get back.
[It'd be really nerdy indeed...]
I don't do anything. Nothing really seemed all that interesting. Besides, not like anything happens here that I'd get hired for.
[AKA he's lazy as hell.]
no subject
[I mean, that sounds pretty sweet, actually, if Nice still has money despite not having a job. Leon's tone is more genuinely curious than judgmental this time. He wants in on this not having to work action if there's action to be had.]
Don't you gotta make your money somehow?
no subject
[No, there's not really that much action here...at all.]
What else have I got to do?
no subject
[Well, for money. He gets it. Admittedly, his own grudge against ViViD had been pretty petty to begin with, right up until the moment Kirigiri had almost suffocated in the beta version of it; since then, he feels confident in his choice. His choice which initially had just been avoidance, sure.]
Whatever, that's your call! I guess it's a good way to make money! Just don't, like, get totally screwed over and killed by CERES in there.
[Is that concern? Maybe a little.
And more than that, it's commiseration on the latter:]
But this place does pretty much suck. It's like there's tons to do here, but it's, I dunno. Kinda empty?
[This is edging on a slightly deeper level of reflection, here; sometimes it just spills out, this crap he has trouble articulating until the moment he's saying it unthinkingly.]
no subject
It's more exciting than half the stuff that happens around here...well, when everything's not going crazy. [Because all of this? Is Something Else.] I'm not going to do die, though. I don't know why you people are so worried about me.
["You people"...?]
Probably because it's so unfamiliar or something. And you shouldn't trust politicians to begin with, but the guys here are even worse, so that doesn't help either.
no subject
[He picks up on that too. Leon's not sure who he's being lumped in with here. People who actually care about this guy, maybe? No thanks!]
Whatever! I didn't say I was "so worried"! I'm just smart about not getting my ass killed!
[LITERALLY NO PART OF THAT SENTENCE IS CORRECT.
To his credit, he realizes that too after he says it, and looks uncomfortable for a moment before pressing on.]
—I've got a friend who almost died in there, like, for-real died, 'cuz they forced her into some beta test thing where she couldn't breathe. It's pretty screwed up the shit they get away with. I don't trust 'em with my "code"!
no subject
[Are you really...Nice...that one remains to be seen. They're both a bunch of liars here.]
How'd that even happen? There's been some really weird stuff that's happened in there to me, but I've never heard of that happening before.
[And he's always up for more information...]
no subject
You hear about those tours CERES did of their headquarters or whatever? She went on one of those. They just took her and the others up to some room and got them into this shittier version of ViViD and left 'em there to rot.